PETALING JAYA: The public accounts committee will call up the secretaries-general of two ministries to find out more about expired Covid-19 vaccines and faulty ventilators supplied to the government.
The two ministries are the health ministry and the ministry of science, technology and innovation.
PAC chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said the two secretaries-general will be required to appear on June 15 before the committee, which is the parliamentary watchdog on government spending.
In April, health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said nearly 2.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, costing about RM81.4 million, had expired as of Feb 28.
She said the expired vaccine doses of various brands were being stored at the ministry’s facilities and a vaccine storage warehouse.
The Auditor-General’s Report for 2021 had also revealed that only 28 of 136 ventilators procured by Pharmaniaga Logistics for the health ministry from 2020 to 2022 were in working order.
PAC to probe navy ship programme
Mas Ermieyati said that she has met Muda deputy president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz and the party’s secretary-general Amir Hadi about a memorandum from the party requesting details of the troubled littoral combat ship programme and its progress.
Mas Ermieyati said that committee members will visit the Lumut navy base on Saturday to conduct investigations.
“A progress report on the LCS project would be presented every three months to the Dewan Rakyat,” she said.
Open PAC meetings
She also said that in the interests of being accountable and transparent to the public, she hopes that PAC meetings would no longer be behind closed doors from next year.
“Parliament’s administration is ready, and has the capabilities in terms of human resources and IT infrastructure to hold proceedings openly,” she said.